UC English Online Course Records High Demand on Coursera
More than 50,000 students from around the world have enrolled in the course "English for Common Interactions in the Workplace: Basic Level." With a combination of entertaining and interactive exercises, the MOOC adds 1,000 new students weekly from Mexico, India, Colombia, and Spain, among other countries.
photo_camera "English for Common Interactions in the Workplace: Basic Level" addresses the real communication needs of people in an office and does so with videos and interactive exercises.
With students from countries as diverse and geographically distant as India, Spain, and the United States, the course "English for Common Interactions in the Workplace: Basic Level" has more than 50,000 registered students.
Developed by English UC Language Center, interested people can access it through the online education platform Coursera. This platform currently offers more than 4,000 courses designed by nearly 150 universities worldwide.
"This Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) has been by far the course with the most weekly enrollments since we joined Coursera in 2015. It has an average of 1,400 students enrolled per week," said Luz Montero, Director of Continuing Education at UC. She added that the average number of course enrollees is 200 students per week.
A course for what people need
According to Paula Ross, Associate Director of Academic Programs at English UC, the course's success is because this MOOC reflects what people currently need. English that is fun, interactive, and applicable to their real communication needs in work contexts.
"The course addresses the real communication needs of people in an office and does so with videos and interactive exercises. Everything through a story that includes characters and situations with which students can also identify with," she said.
Apart from the high demand recorded, the program stands out for its high-quality design, its enrollees have highly valued. Students have given the course a score of 4.75 out of a total of 5.0. In general, the courses offered by UC on this platform are very well evaluated by students.
Students from around the world
Luz Montero also highlighted the fact that people from very distant countries have enrolled. "We were surprised to have students from Asia, especially India, with about 5,000 enrollees," she said.
One student, Ashiqur Rahman, shared his experience: "I am a graduate student from Bangladesh, and I would like to thank our instructors for their excellent presentation of the contents of this course. It was really a good course for me."
In terms of the number of students enrolled in the course, the top country is Mexico, with nearly 8,000 students enrolled. It is followed by Chile, India, Colombia, and Spain.
The pandemic has also meant that many people have decided to seek new forms of online education. Among the undeniable advantages of distance education are its affordability and quality. Also, students can choose when they access the content according to their time and schedule.
The director of English UC, Christopher MacGuire, also explained that the business-oriented profile of the course has also contributed to its success. "Our goal for this year is to reach 80,000 enrollees," he said.
Coursera, the educational platform where the MOOC is available, has experienced great success due to its model. They partner with prestigious universities, offer various courses, and understand the importance of education and lifelong learning.
"I think the fact that this course's name is in English has opened up the geographic and language borders for us. It has made us think seriously about how we design continuing education courses for the whole world," concluded Luz Montero.
- Access the course English for Common Interactions in the Workplace
- Check all the courses offered by UC on Coursera.
